A Second Chance
by purtyinpink71121
Summary: What if Luke was killed shortly after he and Lorelai made up in S5? What if he was given a second chance at life? Would things be different, or would people just think they were crazy, seeing the ghost of Luke Danes? Read it! JAVAJUNKIE, LIT
1. Chapter 1

**A Second Chance**

**Chapter One: The Funeral**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters, or any of that crap. I do own the plot… give me some credit.

**A/N: **So I had this crazy idea when watching the movie Ghost. This story. This isn't really a spoof off of Ghost or anything like that though, when an idea gets in my head, and forms, it changes, it can get pretty out of control. There are some similarities to the movie I suppose, but it's pretty different. I'll stop babbling now and get on with the story… or another author's note works too.

**A/N2:** Okay, so this chapter may seem a little bit intense, what with Luke dying, but believe me, this is written by a diehard JavaJunkie fan. Luke and Lorelai are going to end up together in the end. I'm not going to say much more than that, because it would totally give away the ending, but just have confidence. And NOW we'll get on with the story!

XOxoXOxoXOxoXO

"We are here today to mourn the loss of one Luke Danes," The reverend said, standing in front of a smooth, rosewood coffin, "Luke was a great guy, and I'm sure everyone here will miss him terribly," He continued. Lorelai Gilmore stood, staring in disbelief at the coffin in front of her. Tears were flowing down her face, and she was gripping her daughter's hand in her own.

"You didn't even know him," Lorelai said softly, staring at the man before her. He stopped talking, looking at her calmly. He had obviously dealt with people like her before and he had a somewhat bored expression on his face.

"You have no idea who he is! You have no right to say what a great guy he was, you never even knew who he was!" Lorelai yelled, her voice shaky, and gaining confidence with each word. She suddenly stopped, breaking into a fresh set of sobs upon hearing the past tense verb she had used. Rory stood next to her mother, rubbing her back soothingly until the cries passed.

When Lorelai calmed down, the reverend began speaking again, giving Luke a final blessing. He stopped talking and everyone stood in silence, saying a final prayer.

Lorelai took a step forward, looking at the casket. It certainly was easier to focus on the intricate woodwork than it was to think of what she was really doing there. She took the flower she was holding, a single red rose, and placed it on the coffin. She stood silently for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Good bye Luke," she said, ever so softly.

Rory stood, watching her mother, when she heard a voice answer her.

"Good bye Lorelai," Rory looked up. She glanced over to the source of the voice, disbelief in her mind.

"Luke?" Rory whispered, looking to the right of the coffin. She squinted her eyes, and saw the faint outline of Luke Danes, leaning against a tree. The Luke phantom looked right at Rory, wide-eyed that she was also looking at him.

They stood, sapphire eyes on sapphire eyes, until Rory shook her head and closed her eyes. The past few days had been extremely stressful on everyone. Since finding out Luke had been murdered, Rory had been trying to remain strong for her mom, when she needed it most. The funeral was not the right time to finally crack under the pressure.

She opened her eyes, looking at the tree again. Luke was gone, much to her relief. It just wasn't normal to see someone at their own funeral, no matter which way you slice it.

Lorelai walked backward, away from the coffin, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. She looked over at Rory, and took her hand, smiling weakly. Rory smiled reassuringly back at her mother, squeezing her hand.

The casket was lowered, and both Gilmore girls looked at the coffin, neither one believing it was really happening. Lorelai's lips parted, and she spoke to him one last time.

"I love you Luke," She whispered ever so quietly. Rory barely even heard her. Rory didn't expect Luke to answer her again, but sure enough she heard the same voice float through her ears again.

"I love you, too Lorelai," Luke's voice said. Rory's head shot up once again, looking over at the tree. There was Luke again, in the same position, with the same expression on his face. Rory stared at him again, but this time it took him a little while to realize that she was looking at him. When he finally looked over, Rory glanced over at her mom, to see if Lorelai could see what it was she saw.

Lorelai was staring straight at the coffin, a stony expression on her face. As the casket hit the bottom of the hole, both Lorelai and Rory shed new tears as the thud echoed across the cemetery.

Rory looked back over to the tree, to find it empty. Rory put it down to stress. That was the only explanation she could think of. She hadn't taken a large amount of cough syrup recently, and there was no way that _actually_ had just happened, so there was no other way to think of it.

After a few moments, Lorelai, Rory, and everyone else was clearing out, headed back to the Gilmore house for the reception.

On the drive there, Rory could not stop thinking about what she had seen during the funeral. Even though she convinced herself it was not real, she was still unnerved by it. She wondered if her mother had seen what she had seen, but judging by the way Lorelai had told off the reverend, she would have reacted if she had seen Luke.

Rory decided against telling her mom what had happened. She didn't want to talk about Luke any more than was necessary. Rory felt extremely bad for her mother. She knew that Lorelai was in love with Luke, and Lorelai deserved more than anyone to just settle down and be happy. Rory loved him too actually, and was devastated by his death as well.

When they reached the house, Rory helped her mom out of the car and they walked up to the door together in silence.

"How are you doing Mom?" Rory asked as they walked into the house. Lorelai looked at her daughter and forced a smile.

"I'm fine. Now come on, we have to stay strong until at least the reception is over. We have company coming; we should set up tables for Sookie to put the food on when she gets here. Thank God we know a gourmet chef, huh?" Lorelai said, trying to keep her voice steady. Rory nodded, understanding that her mother needed to stay stable while there were guests around.

They brought out a few tables and set them up, and when Sookie arrived, Rory and Sookie put the food out while Lorelai searched for cups in the kitchen.

"Hey Rory, how's your mom?" Sookie said softly as Lorelai disappeared into the kitchen. Rory sighed.

"It's been hard, on both of us. But I think she'll hold up until the reception is over. She wants to stay strong for everyone. That's just the way she is. But it kills me to see her like this," Rory said. She glanced into the kitchen to make sure her mom was not listening to them talk about her. Sookie nodded sympathetically. Lorelai then came bustling into the room, holding her treasures above her head.

"I found a whole stash of plastic cups in the cabinet next to the stove!" Lorelai said, trying to be her usual bouncy self. Rory forced a smile.

"That's good," she said, taking the cups from her mother. Lorelai took Sookie upstairs for a minute, and Rory was left standing in the family room alone. She looked down into one of the cups and saw the face of Luke Danes staring back at her again. She quickly looked over her shoulder and saw him standing there.

"Ahhh! Luke?" Rory exclaimed, thoroughly startled. Luke looked at her.

"You can see me? Can you hear this Rory?" Luke said. Rory stood petrified, staring at him.

"Get away from me! I know you aren't really there, just leave," she sighed, "Way too much stress," Rory muttered, closing her eyes and massaging her temples. She opened her eyes and saw Luke was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around, only to find Luke standing in front of their TV. She jumped, startled by him again.

"I remember this room. Your mother and I watched some movie here. Casablanca or something," Luke said. Rory looked at him, not believing that Luke Danes was standing in front of her.

"Please go away," Rory said, closing her eyes tightly again and trying to will the image away. Just then the doorbell rang, and Lorelai's voice floated down the staircase.

"I'll get that Rory," she said, her voice shaky. Soon Lorelai was walking down the stairs, wiping tears from her eyes. Rory looked over to Luke and saw that he was slowly fading.

"Lorelai…" he said, walking toward her, and fading as he went. His voice was getting softer and softer until he had disappeared completely. Rory stood stock still. Lorelai had definitely not seen or heard any of that, and yet it had seemed so real.

Lorelai opened the door, and Miss Patty walked slowly into the room, wearing an all black outfit, and looking close to tears. She walked over to Rory and pulled her into a hug, seeing the expression on her face.

Rory found comfort in Miss Patty's arms, and began to cry. She cried for Luke being gone, for her mother being so depressed, and that she was losing her mind by hallucinations. As the evening went on, everyone ate food, talked about what a wonderful person Luke had been, and mourned the loss of a great man.

The whole night Rory kept getting the feeling that she was being watched, followed, but couldn't bring up the nerve to look over her shoulder, for fear she would see Luke again. She really couldn't deal with that right now.

XOxoXOxoXOxoXO

**Okay, so what do you think? Tell me if you liked it! List at least one specific thing you liked in the review please. I'll try to update soon, I have almost the whole second chapter written, so I'll try my best to get it up soon. Also, I'm sorry if the chapter was a little bit too short, but I just wanted to get the story started. Tell me if you wanna see what happens next! REVIEW Y'ALL!**

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	2. The Story is Unraveled

**A Second Chance**

**Chapter Two: The Story is Unraveled**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters you recognize. I don't own God either… oh, what if God was one of us? Sorry. I do, however, own the plot, and the idea of God… I won't say anything else, but you'll get it once you read it. Yeah… so now, onto the incessant rambling A/N's!

**A/N:** Hey y'all! What's up? How y'all doing? Happy late July 4th to you Americans! And happy July 5th to the whole world! This is going to be a good day! I can smell it… maybe just because I'm going shopping later. Anyway… yeah… thanks to all of you people who reviewed! It really inspired me to write this chapter! Yay! So now to the story… but it will probably end up being another A/N… whatever.

**A/N2:** Monday was a very sad day for me and Gilmore Girls. I got home from the beach with my friend Katie, and we turn on the TV and Gilmore Girls just happened to be on. It was episode 3.2, Rory's first day of Senior year, and Lorelai was waiting for Rory to wake up. And then she does, and Lorelai starts talking about how much Rory had cost her over the years. Ya know, that one. Anyway, Lorelai was talking about how much Rory costs, and how many diapers she had used, and Katie goes "Well, that's what you get for having a kid at 16! You shouldn't blame Rory for that!" It made me sad. So after she left, I went into my room and wrote FanFiction to ease the realization that she doesn't like GG… tear tear. So, anyway, I guess I'll stop rambling right now. On with the story! And don't forget to review!

**A/N3:** I just thought I should say before you read that this might be a little bit weird. It's kind of… unlikely. But just give it a chance, keep on reading it, hopefully it isn't too weird for you guys! I hope you like it! This chapter is going to answer a lot of questions you guys were asking… like how he died, and how he's going to get another chance at life. So, read on!

XOxoXOxoXOxoXO

Luke Danes walked around the small town of Stars Hollow, looking at all the sights from his life. He walked along, noticed by none and loved by all. He passed the dance studio, where Miss Patty shivered from the breeze. He passed Doose's Market where an employee closed the door to block out the draft.

He kept walking along, thinking of what had happened, what he had to do. Soon his mind was floating back to the night he had been murdered in New York.

-XOxoXO-

_Flashback_

Luke was in New York for the weekend with his girlfriend, Lorelai. They wanted to get away from Stars Hollow and head for the big city for just a few days. Lorelai was currently in her hotel room, while Luke ran out to get food.

Luke walked quickly along the crowded street, looking around for someplace to get something decent to eat. He heard commotion behind him, and saw a huge crowd of people running toward him. Right in front was his nephew, Jess Mariano. He was carrying something in his arms, and was being chased by about 5 people. He had a pretty good lead on them, but they were gaining

"Jess! What are you doing?" Luke yelled as Jess approached him.

"Run! Luke, run!" Jess yelled as he bolted down the street. Luke stood transfixed as the people chased him. He didn't know what to do, but before he could do much of anything, someone had snuck up behind him and wrapped an arm around his throat and put a gun to his head.

"Where did the kid go?" a man hissed in his ear. Luke could not see his attacker's face, but he got a glance at the hand around his neck and saw the man didn't have a ring finger on his left hand.

"I don't know. He just kept going straight," Luke lied. In truth, Jess had turned around a building, to throw the people off, but Luke was determined to protect his nephew. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew those guys were up to no good. If nothing else, the gun to the head tipped him off.

"Don't lie to me! You know that kid, and if you want to live, you will tell me where that kid went," the man stressed, pushing the gun into Luke's head as if to remind him what the penalty was for lying.

"I told you, I don't know anything," Luke said again, starting to get really scared, but not showing it. He had to stay tough.

"You're asking for it," the man said, cocking the gun. Luke gritted his teeth, not about to give in, "Tell me where the kid went, or you're finished!"

"Kill me then! I don't know anything and even if I did I wouldn't tell you anything," Luke said.

"That's it! I've had enough of your smart talk!" The man pulled the trigger, and just before everything went black, Luke saw Lorelai standing in front of him, screaming in shock. The last thing he heard before passing on was Lorelai's voice, screaming his name.

_End flashback._

-XOxoXO-

_New flashback_

After Luke was killed, he found himself in a huge, white castle, with clouds everywhere, and angels all around. As he walked along, he ran into an angel, who told him that God wanted to speak to him.

Luke walked into a room with a blinding white light being emitted form the center of it. Luke squinted, thinking this all was just a bizarre dream. But he knew it wasn't. Deep down he knew he was dead, and his head was spinning from it all.

"Luke?" said a voice coming from the middle of the room. Luke walked forward, seeing the outline of a man, when suddenly the light flickered and died. Luke frowned. Could that happen?

"Aw jeez. How hard can it be to find a good 1,000 watt light bulb these days? That killed my whole entrance" said the voice again, a man walking forward. Luke did a double take, seeing the form of the person in front of him. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and was wearing a flannel shirt and had a baseball cap on backwards.

"What the hell?" Luke said, staring at himself standing in front of him.

"Hey Luke. I'm God. I've been waiting for you," the Luke-clone said.

"I'm God!" Luke exclaimed, his jaw dropping to the floor. _Yeah right!_

"No, I am. I'm God, and I have the ability to shift shapes. I can take on the form of any person in the world, or in heaven," God said in a very Luke-like 'duh' manner. Luke did a double take, surprised at just now similar He was to Luke. He even got the personality.

"Huh," Luke said. God chuckled, "So you can become any person you want to?" Luke asked.

"Yep," God grunted monosyllabically. He then started to glow, and change shape. He stopped glowing suddenly, and a tall brunette with curly hair stood where Luke's clone had just seconds before. Luke inhaled sharply, his eyes wide.

"Lorelai," he breathed, his heart pounding. She smirked at him.

"I knew I would get a reaction with this one. But the question is why?" Lorelai-God said. Luke's breath caught in his throat at just hearing her voice again.

"Why? Because, I love Lorelai. With all my heart," Luke said, not able to take his eyes off of her, despite the fact that he knew it wasn't really her.

"Interesting," God said. He then glowed again, changing shape back into Luke. When God was finished, He walked around and sat down on a chair that Luke could have sworn was not there a second ago.

"Sit down Luke," God said, pointing to another chair that was definitely not there before._ What do I expect? I'm in heaven, having a nice little chat with GOD!_

"Okay. So this is a sitting thing…" Luke said, recalling the meeting with Jess's principle all those years ago. That had been bad news… who was to say this wouldn't be?

"Don't worry Luke, this isn't going to be a bad thing, you aren't… shunned to hell or anything like that," God said, rolling his eyes.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Luke asked stupidly. God just rolled his eyes.

"Hello? I'm God," He said. Luke nodded, and God continued talking, "So, Luke, I have another question to ask you,"

"Shoot," Luke said.

"Why would you want to be living again? What was it that made your life so important? What would you do if you could be alive again?" God asked. Luke didn't even have to think about it for two seconds.

"Lorelai. I want to be able to see her again. To talk to her, to touch her. I know how unhappy she must be, and it just kills me to even think about that. She made my life complete, the month when we were apart was horrible. I don't want to be the reason she feels like that for the rest of her life," Luke said. God smiled lightly, nodding his head.

"Good," He grunted. Luke frowned, confused, "Luke, I've been watching you," God continued.

"Who are you now, Santa Claus?" Luke grumbled.

"No, but I could be if you want me to," God said. Luke shook his head, "Well then, if I may continue. You are a good guy Luke. I had always liked you, the love you showed for Lorelai for years was unbelievable. There is no tactful way to say this, so I'm just going to do it. I've decided to give you a second chance," Luke did a double take, not thinking he understood right.

"What! A second chance? As in, you'll give me my life back?" Luke asked, bewildered.

"Yes. But not right away. There are conditions," God said.

"Bring them on," Luke said, hope in his heart.

"First, you will go back to Earth as a ghost. Only one select person will be able to see you. You must find that person, and together, the two of you must find the person who did this to you," God began to explain.

"The person who killed me?" Luke clarified. God nodded.

"Yes. Find the person who killed you and recover the stolen item. You'll need to find your nephew to help with that," God continued. Luke nodded, remembering that Jess had been there the night he died. He then had a sudden thought.

"Wait. You said there would be only one person who could see me. Is that person going to be Jess?" Luke asked.

"Oh, no. I'm not telling you who it is," God answered, "Hopefully we can kill two birds with one stone with this one," Luke frowned, about to ask another question when God spoke up.

"Well, you better get a move on. You'll have a lot of work to do before you get your life back. I advise you go to your funeral to start off. Good bye now," God said. He waved his hand, and another bright light illuminated the room. Luke opened his eyes to find himself in Stars Hollow again. And then, the adventure begins.

_End Flashback_

_-_XOxoXO_-_

Luke walked around Stars Hollow, deciding how to make his next move. He had found the person who could see him sooner than he had expected. Rory had seen him at this funeral, and then later in the house. Unfortunately, she thought she was just going crazy. He would have to find a way to fix that.

He thought back to another thing that God had said. _Hopefully we can kill two birds with on stone with this one_. What on Earth had he meant by that? Luke decided not to dwell on it. It would probably become apparent soon.

Luke was still walking around Stars Hollow, and suddenly he found himself standing in front of the diner. He put his hands in his pockets and looked at it. The blinds were drawn, and he knew that if he were to walk around the corner he would find a "Closed Permanently" sign on his door.

Luke walked around the corner, and found, to his mild surprise, Lorelai sitting on the steps. She had her face in her hands, and her shoulders were shaking, showing that she was sobbing. Luke felt his heart break all over again for the millionth time. He felt so sad that he had to leave her like this.

He walked over to her, and sat down next to her on the steps of the diner. Lorelai was, in fact, crying. Yet even with tears all over her face, she looked just as radiant as ever.

When Luke sat down next to her, Lorelai had lifted her face out of her hands and was wiping her tears away. She felt the cool breeze from Luke's ghost and pulled the light sweater she was wearing tighter around her small frame. Luke sat there for a few moments, just watching her, until she suddenly spoke.

"I miss you Luke. Everyday I think about you non stop. I never really thought about what I would do if something happened to you. I think I just… knew I would totally break down," Lorelai said. She started to cry again, and put her face in her hands. Luke looked at her.

"I miss you too Lorelai. But everything will be okay soon. Soon I'm going to get another shot at life, and everything is going to go right," Luke said. Lorelai tried to compose herself, as there were people walking around town who were shooting her painfully sympathetic looks.

"Sometimes I feel bad Luke. I feel bad that I never really told you how much I love you. I sometimes wish that I had really given us a chance earlier. We could have been so happy, but we wasted so much time. Eight years before our first date. And even then I never told you that… I really love you Luke. And I still do. And now, I'm going insane. Sitting here on the steps of your diner, talking to myself," Lorelai laughed a little bit and turned around. She was looking at the door, at the sign that said "Closed Permanently".

Luke just looked at her. She had just spilled her heart out, said everything she was thinking. The bad thing was that she didn't know Luke was really there, had heard everything that she had said.

"Mom!" came Rory's voice. Luke and Lorelai both looked across the square to see Rory jogging towards then, "I've been looking for you. I kind of figured you would be here," Rory said. She stopped running, and looked shocked as she realized that Luke was sitting next to her mother.

"Mom? Can you…" Rory said, trailing off. Luke shook his head.

"No, Rory. You are the only person that can see me. I just came here and saw Lorelai, and wanted to talk to her. She was talking to me too, but she didn't really know that I was sitting here the whole time. I would suggest you don't say anything. She won't know what you are talking about, and she is a little bit sensitive right now," Luke said. Rory stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Rory, hun, you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something," Lorelai said. Rory tried to suppress a laugh at how ironic that was. Luke rolled his eyes. Rory then realized her mom was waiting for some kind of an answer.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I was just, uh, looking for you. But now, I found you… so yeah, I'm just going to, uh, go now," Rory said, growing a little uneasy due to the fact that she was looking at Luke as well as her mother. Lorelai nodded, and Rory headed off down the street.

Luke debated going after her, but decided against it. It wouldn't do him any good to follow her around, just bugging her. He knew that.

Rory glanced back over shoulder at Luke one last time, to confirm he was actually there. Luke gave her a little wave, and she just shook her head. Luke sighed. The first part of the mission was done, finding the person who could see him, his link to the real world. Now he just had to get her to believe he was really there. That part might be a little bit tougher.

XOxoXOxoXOxoXO

**Well? Did you like it? What do you expect? You're in Heaven, having a nice little chat with GOD! Hee hee, I liked that part. PLEASE review and tell me what you think! REVIEW REVIEW! DANCE DANCE! I'm listening to that now… anyway, thanks for reading, and please REVIEW!**

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	3. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

**A Second Chance**

**Chapter Three: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid**

**Disclaimer:** I want a pony. Did I get it? No... Life isn't fair... I want Gilmore Girls... do I get it? NOPE!

**A/N:** Hey everyone! I hope you all weren't waiting too long for this update. I tried to make it pretty speedy and believe it or not this is pretty good for me. I'll try to have the next chapter of A Lot Like Fate up soon, but you know how that goes... Enjoy this chapter!

**A/N2: **Just a note about this story, Jess and Rory have not been in any sort of contact since the night he begged her to come to New York with him. I think that's the way they did it on the show, but I just thought that I would clear that up. Also, although this is late S5, Rory and Logan are not going out. After she said she couldn't do casual dating, she left before he could ask to be her boyfriend, and has barely talked to him since. Just thought I would clear a few things up!

**A/N3:** I made a song! It's right down there! Sing it to the tune of "Mary had a Little Lamb" (I'm pretty proud of this one!) _Ahem_

_Rory was stalked by a ghost_

_By a ghost_

_By a ghost_

_Rory was stalked by a ghost,_

_Someone she used to know_

_Everywhere that Rory went_

_Rory went_

_Rory went_

_Everywhere that Rory went_

_Luke would surely follow_

Tee hee :-D. So anyway now on to the story! Review please my lovely fans!

XOxoXOxoXOxoXO

Over the next few days it seemed that wherever Rory went, the ghost of Luke would go too. (**A/N4:** See the connection the song held? I'm not so crazy now, am I?) Two weeks had gone by, and Rory had decided to live at home for the rest of the school year and just drive over to New Haven when she had a class. This let her watch out for her mom as well as have time to mourn herself. However, it was hard to be sad when the dead person was hovering over you at all hours of the day.

It was late on a Thursday night, and Rory was in her room, trying to finish a paper that was due on Monday. Lorelai was in her room, as Rory had convinced her to try to get some sleep. Luke was stubbornly sitting on Rory's bed. He had refused to leave her side until she agreed to help him. However, he was not the only person gifted with stubbornness.

Rory stopped typing and looked at the clock. She sighed and stood up. She had been checking on Lorelai every half hour or so just to make sure that she was alright.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked from his place on the bed. Rory jumped slightly, having forgotten for a moment that he was there.

"Um, I was just going to go check up on Mom," Rory responded.

"You stay here and work, I'll go check on Lorelai. I'll just poke my head in, and I'll come down here to get you if anything is wrong," Luke said. Rory thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"Thanks Luke. I do really need to get this paper done so I can proofread it over the weekend," Rory said. Luke walked out of the room and Rory smiled as she watched him go. Even in death he was the most generous person she knew. She almost forgot for a moment that he wasn't supposed to really be there.

As Luke walked up to Lorelai's room, he looked around at the walls and furnature. There were so many memories that he shared with Lorelai and Rory in this house, and there were supposed to by so many more. It couldn't end like this, he had to convince Rory to help him, it was the only way.

When he reached Lorelai's room, he briefly considered knocking, but it would be odd if he knocked and she found no one was there. He slowly opened the door, careful not to startle her. However, he found her to be asleep on her (their?) bed.

He looked at her lovingly and instead of just walking away he slowly entered the room. He hovered over Lorelai, looking down at her. She had a frown on her face, and was tossing and turning in her bed. Luke wanted to wake her from her nightmare, but she wouldn't have been able to hear him. He stared at her for a few seconds before she formed words to vocalize her troubled dreams.

"No! Luke! Please don't go!" She muttered, and Luke's suspicions of what she had been dreaming about were confirmed.

"Luke!" she screamed suddenly, jolting awake and sitting up in bed. She was breathing heavily, and Luke wanted nothing more than to be able to hold her in his arms and comfort her. She looked around wildly and turned to look at the other side of the bed, where Luke should have been lying.

She frantically searched the bed before promptly bursting into tears. She held her head in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Luke!" she screamed through her weeping, "Why did you have to go?" Luke looked at her, his physically hollow chest filled with sadness and emotions. He was sure he would be crying if he were alive and actually had tears to come to his eyes.

Watching Lauren gave him an incredible sense of helplessness, watching the woman he loved have a break down– especially when he was the cause. Just as he remembered he should call Rory up to comfort her she burst through the door. _Speak of the devil._

"MOM!" Rory yelled, rushing over to her bed and putting an arm around Lorelai.

"He's gone! He's gone Rory, and he's never coming back!" Lorelai sobbed.

"It's okay Mom, I'm here. You're not alone," Rory said.

"That's just it! I am alone! Because who is it I would usually talk to about things like this? Luke! But I can't! Never again! And I shouldn't let you see me like this, I have to get control of myself! I'm supposed to be strong for you, Rory! I'm supposed to be strong! Why can't I be strong?" Lorelai said whispering the last part. It was as if something inside of her suddenly broke, making her lose control completely and put all of her emotions on the table. Or, in this case, Rory's shoulder.

Luke couldn't listen to any more of this, his heart was being ripped in two. With one final glance, he disappeared to visit the other person he haunted, the one who was unaware of it. Jess.

Rory watched Luke dematerialize, and looked back at her mother. In one short moment she knew that she would help Luke. But first she had to find a way to know for sure he was there.

XOxoXOxoXOxoXO

Luke had spent the next few days following Jess around, trying to find any clue of who was his murderer, and what had caused it. However, the only thing he noticed was that whenever he came home he checked his apartment thoroughly for signs that someone had been there.

Meanwhile, back in Stars Hollow, Rory had been searching everywhere for Luke's ghost. However, she could find him nowhere. She was actually beginning to believe that the had never really been there at all.

Lorelai was not doing so well either. Ever since she had broken down that night, she had been especially on edge, and stayed either in her bed or on the couch, always covered in numerous blankets and watching something on TV.

Rory and Sookie were worried about Lorelai, and kept trying to bring her back to her old self. While she was usually stubborn and independent, she was not actually letting people help her with some things, as all of her energy seemed to be drained.

Rory walked out of her room one morning to find Lorelai sitting at the kitchen table staring blankly at the stove, an untouched cup of coffee sitting in front of her.

"Mom?" asked Rory cautiously, sitting across from Lorelai. She snapped her head over quickly to look at her daughter.

"Hey sweetie. Did you sleep okay?" Lauren asked, trying to act cheery.

"I slept fine. How about you?" Rory gently returned the question.

"Good. I actually only woke up once the whole night," she responded. Rory smiled, for this was quite an improvement from her thrashing and sleepless nights. At least she was getting her much needed rest.

"What do you plan on doing today?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't have much planned for the day. I might start a paper I have due in two weeks, then Lane and I are going to go see a movie at BWR," Rory said.

"Fun," Lorelai said, trying not to remember she and Luke's fight at BWR a few months ago right before their breakup.

As the day wore on, Lorelai tried to do a little bit of work for the inn, but couldn't concentrate and ended up falling asleep on the couch at around 2:00. Rory realized that she needed her sleep and didn't wake her up.

When Lorelai woke up panting from het another nightmare it was around 3:15. She walked into the kitchen and found Rory there surrounded by books and notes.

"Hey sweets," Lorelai greeted. Rory looked up and smiled.

"Hello. How was your nap?" asked Rory.

"Good," Lorelai said distantly. She looked around to face Rory and forced a smile.

"That's good. Hey listen Mom, you know how I told you that Lane and I were going to go see a movie?" Lorelai nodded, "Well I was thinking maybe you and Sookie could come with us," Rory proposed.

"Oh, I don't know..." Lorelai started to say, thinking of a reason to not go, but Rory stopped her.

"Mom, I know that you are sad, so am I, but you need to get out, if only for one night. I know Luke was important to you, and I'm not saying to just forget about him and completely move on, but he would want you to keep living your life, even if it only comes about in small steps, one outing at a time. Please Mom," Rory said. Lorelai looked at her kid, and realized that she was right.

"Alright, I guess I'll go," Lorelai said. She wanted more than anything for the pain to stop, and thought that maybe if she went out of the house it would take her mind off of Luke.

As the day wore on, Rory continued to look everywhere for Luke. He had disappeared late on Thursday night, and it was now Saturday. He had been gone for two days, but Rory would not give up. She was now sure that Luke had really there. She thought of it this way: if Luke was just her imagination, why would her mind send him away right when she actually needed him?

The movie was at 7, so at 6:30, Lorelai was running around to get ready quickly so they wouldn't be late. Some habits are hard to break.

"Mom! We're going to be late!" Rory called up the stairs. She didn't want to push her mother too hard, but then again she didn't want to miss the movie either.

"Alright honey, I'm just about done. I'm just having a lip gloss crisis, none of these shades look right," Lorelai said. Rory sighed.

"Mom, I'm coming up so I can help you with..." Rory started to say, but she was cut off by Lorelai.

"Got it!" Lorelai yelled, running down the stairs and grabbing her purse, "See, this is the color I was looking for, but it was hiding from me under the dresser," Lorelai stated.

"How did you get it from under the dresser? You know what actually I don't want to know," Rory teased. Rory was very happy that Lorelai was acting normal, at least for the time being.

"Come on, let's blow this pop stand!" Lorelai said. The two girls walked out of the room and out into the chilly night air. Although it was spring it was still a little cold outside.

As they walked along the street Rory kept an eye out for the ghost of Luke. Little did she know that he was secretly following her. She just never looked behind her.

"Lorelai!" came a yell from up ahead. Lorelai looked and saw Sookie running towards her; well, as close to running as she could get being pregnant.

"Hey Sookie," Lorelai said as she was engulfed in a huge hug.

"It's so great to see you out of the house and everything!" Sookie said as she pulled away from the hug. Lorelai just smiled. She would have said it was great to be out, but somewhere inside she just wanted to run and hide away in her room again.

Rory met up with Lane and together the four of them headed inside. They all got seats on the red couch and Rory looked around one final time for Luke. However, to her surprise, he was there. He was sitting in an empty chair right near the top.

Although Rory was looking right at Luke, he was not watching her. Instead he was looking at Lorelai. He didn't seem surprised that she was there, which made Rory think that Luke had actually been watching her for some time. He probably hadn't been there the whole two days she couldn't find him, but he must have been there at least for part of that day. Rory wanted to talk to him, to get his attention in some way, but she realized that screaming Luke's name probably wasn't the smartest move, so she decided to stay put until after the movie.

"I've got the popcorn," Lane said, sitting down next to Rory and breaking her from her thoughts. She turned around suddenly and looked over at Lane, taking a handful of popcorn.

"What were you looking at up there, hon?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing..." Rory said as Lorelai turned her head around. She was staring right at Luke, and Rory briefly wondered if she could see him too, but dismissed that theory when her mom turned around.

"Well, unless you think Kirk looks especially sexy when he deals out popcorn then there's nothing to see," Lorelai said.

"Right," Rory said. Lorelai smiled slightly and looked to her left, which was where Luke usually would be seated. With a heavy heart she realized that he wasn't there and would never be there, sitting next to her, again.

"Lorelai, hun, you okay?" Sookie asked, putting an arm on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," Lorelai said, staring straight ahead. Kirk walked up to the front to announce the movie but had to wait a moment before all was quiet. As Kirk finally got order, Lorelai still had Luke on her mind.

"Thank you. Tonight's feature will be the 1982 movie _Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid_," Kirk said before walking away.

Maybe it was the fact that she had been already thinking about Luke. Maybe it was the mention of the words _dead_ and _plaid_ in the same sentence. Either way, Lorelai was instantly gripped by sadness. She had seen that movie numerous times, and knew that it had nothing to do with a dead plaid-wearing man, but the fact that there was actually one of those in her life led Lorelai to start tearing up.

Rory looked over at her mother when she heard the movie title and saw that she was crying. Rory put a hand on her shoulder, but Lorelai shrugged it off.

"Mom, are you okay?" Rory asked gently. Lorelai shook her head as tears streamed down her face. She got up suddenly, wiping her eyes on her arm, and ran out of the bookstore.

Rory watched her mother go and then glanced over at Luke. Luke was looking after Lorelai and before he knew what he was doing he got up from the chair he was sitting it, causing it to wobble and fall over. The lady next to where he was sitting looked at it oddly, as chairs do not usually just randomly fall over. Rory's eyes widened at this. If that woman had seen the chair fall over, then Luke couldn't have just been a part of her imagination. She may be smart, after all, but she was no Matilda.

"I'll be right back," Rory said to Lane and Sookie before rushing out the door that was still open from her mother running out.

"Mom?" yelled Rory, looking around for either her mother or Luke.

"She went home Rory," came Luke's voice from behind her. Rory spun around to see him. There he was, standing right in front of her once again.

"Luke, I believe you, that you are really there. I don't know why or how you are here, but you are. I don't know why I am the only person who can see you, but I am. I can't let Mom live the rest of her life like this, and I certainly can't spend the rest of my life thinking that if only I had listened to you, I could have done something about it, I could have made her happy again. So whatever I need to do, anyway at all I can help, I'm willing to," Rory said. Luke looked at her, then smiled a little bit. It was small and almost unnoticeable, but it was there none the less.

As Luke began to explain everything to Rory, the pieces started to fit together. Rory would have to help Luke talk to Jess, and then Jess would help them find the person who killed Luke.

As simple as it sounded, it was quite the opposite. Jess was not one to believe in ghosts, no matter how many supernatural books he's read.

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**HAHAHA, get it? She was no Matilda, because Matilda was... oh never mind... :-D**

**Well anywho, how did you like it? Nice lone chapter, eh? Just the actual chapter, not including the monstrous A/Ns is 2744 words! Nice, huh? So what do you think, was it worth the wait? Well anyway, drop me off a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter, and hopefully I'll update soon! Thanks a million bajillion! (That is so a word, spell check it just stupid!)**

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**P.S. I really am a talented poet, no? **


	4. Who was at the door?

**A Second Chance**

**Chapter four: Who was at the door?**

**Disclaimer: **I only own the shady mysterious guy who was at the door. And no, I don't mean Jess. ;)

**A/N: **Hey guys sorry for the long wait but high school SUCKS! I've had five tests in the past 3 days, no joke. So I've been a little bit busy. But anyway, here is this chapter! I wanted to get it up soon, so it's not very long. But I hope you like it! Next chapter is going to be a big one, it's going to answer a lot of questions you guys probably have. So, if you want me to update soon, then reveiw!

**A/N2:** I just wanted to tell you all that I will probably have another chapter of A lot like Fate up by next weekend. Hopefully. Anyway, enjoy and reveiw!

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As Rory stood outside the door to Jess's apartment, Luke standing invisibly next to her, she found herself much more nervous that she thought she was going to be. Sure he had told her he loved her, but that was ancient history. She hadn't seen him in about a year, and yet standing in front of this door was one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life. She glanced over at Luke and saw him looking at her expectantly.

"I'll, uh, knock now..." Rory said. She reached a hand forward to knock, but before she could make contact with the door it swung open of it's own accord. And standing there, was Jess Mariano.

Rory felt her breath leave her chest a little bit as she looked at him. He seemed to have not changed at all. He looked the same, anyway. He was wearing the same leather jacket he had always had, and was wearing jeans as always. There was a book in his hand too, and upon closer inspection she saw it was by Hemingway.

_Of course, leave it to Jess to be reading an Ernest Hemingway book. The only thing that seems to have changed about him is that he is parting his hair differently_, Rory thought. (**A/N**: Sorry guys I couldn't resist. I HATE how he started like parting his hair instead of spiking it... It makes him look like a good little boy...). And when he spoke, his words seemed to float through the air, as his voice always seemed to.

"Rory?" Jess said. Rory noticed that when he answered the door he seemed kind of tense, but when he saw who it was, he relaxed. Rory wondered if this was because it was her at the door, or because it wasn't someone he didn't want to see.

"Hi," Rory said. She was worried that she would have trouble speaking with him standing there like that... and she did.

"What are you doing here?" Jess asked. Rory tried to avoid answering his question as long as she could.

"Um, how did you know I was here? I hadn't knocked yet," Rory said.

"I thought I heard a voice," Jess answered smoothly, "You want to come in?" He asked, gesturing into the apartment.

When Luke stepped in he noticed that this apartment was much nicer than the last one Jess had, with mold on the walls and only a mattress for each of the guys.

"So what brings you here to NYC?" Jess asked, turning around to look at Rory.

"Well, uh," Rory said, not sure how to begin. However, she was saved the trouble of forming a sentence by a sharp knock at the door

Jess stiffened and turned slowly to look at the door. Then, without warning, he put a hand over Rory's mouth to make sure that she wouldn't talk and began whispering in her ear.

"Rory. I need you to listen to me and listen carefully. Behind me is a door to a closet. I need you to go to that door and get in the closet. I need you to hide there until I come and get you. Can you do that?" Jess said softly. Rory nodded and Jess removed his hand and pointed to the door. Just as Rory quietly hurried to the closet, having absolutely no idea what was going on, there was more knocking at the door, this time more impatient.

A few seconds after Rory closed the door to the closet she heard the door to the apartment open and heard a rumble of voices. Rory put her ear to the door to try to hear what was going on. She caught a little snippet of the conversation.

"Hey man. I thought you were..." Came the voice of Jess.

"Nah. I couldn't... them but... your guard..." came the voice of another guy, the person who Rory suspected was at the door. Rory pressed her ear closer to the door so she could hear more.

"I... now because... over... but call me... and we'll go...them," Jess said.

Rory strained her ears and was able to catch the last thing the other guys said.

"Okay, keep it safe," _What on earth does that mean? Is that a way to tell Jess to stay sage, or was there something Jess had that needed to be kept safe? And who was that guy? Does this have anything to do with Luke? And why on Earth was I forced into a closet? _So many questions swam around Rory's mind, and when she turned around she almost screamed out to see Luke a little bit farther back in the closet. Once again she had forgotten that he was there.

"Who was that?" Luke said, hoping that Rory had heard enough to know who it was.

"I don't know, I..." Rory said, but was cut off by the closet door opening. Rory squinted at the blinding light and saw that Jess was standing there, holding a hand out to her. Rory took it and stood up.

"Who were you talking to just now?" Jess asked, gesturing to the closet, and Rory realized it must have looked odd for Jess to open the door to Rory seemingly talking to no one.

"Oh, uh, no one. Who was that at the door? And why was I shoved in the closet?" Rory asked. Jess sighed.

"It's a really long story, and I really don't want to get into it. But basically I told you to hide in the closet because I didn't know who it was. I thought it was going to be someone else," Jess said. Rory frowned.

"Well, tell me who it was," she said. Jess just shook his head and sat down on the couch. Rory sat down in a chair and looked at Jess, still feeling a little flutter in her stomach.

"So. I don't mean to be rude but um, what are you doing here Rory?" Jess said. There were a million questions running through his mind as well. Was she here to get back together with him? To beg his forgiveness? Or was it something else entirely?

"That's kind of a long story too. A really long story. And one you probably won't even believe," Rory said.

"How about this," Jess said, "I'll tell you anything you want to know about who was at the door, if you tell me anything I want to know about why you came here," Jess finished. Rory frowned, thinking it over. She looked to her left and saw Luke looking at her and nodding his head. Rory turned to Jess.

"Deal," she said, reaching out a hand over the table and shaking Jess's . They then both settled back into their seats and soon the whole story was spilling out.

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**Hey guys! I know that this was kind of short, but I had to spit this chapter into two or else I would never finish it and get it up in time. So, who do you guys think was at the door? Answer me in a review and if you are right I'll put your name in the next chapter. And let me tell you, it's a primo character. You could be the name of the PIZZA GUY! OOOH! So tell me who you think it was and REVIEW!**

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**Click the button that says Go**

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